Disc dispenser package



y 1, 1962 N. J. MENOLASINO ETAL 3,032,179

DISC DISPENSER PACKAGE Filed April 18, 1960 NICHOLAS J-MENOLAS/NO 5 ALLA/vs. Bucova INVENTOR5 FW fitter/26 s ire This invention relates to the dispensing of discs of lightweight absorbent material impregnated or otherwise treated with an anti-biotic or chemical which may be used in the treatment of diseases and relates in particular to a package in which such disc members are stacked for dispensing one at a time in test procedures.

Briefly described, a very important tool has been given to the medical profession for use as a laboratory test to determine what drugs will probably be effective in combating certain diseases when given to the patient. For this purpose, use is made of a plurality of disc members of absorbent material treated with various anti-biotics or chemicals or drugs known to destroy or inhibit the growth of bacteria and other microorganisms. A culture is prepared in a Petrie or the like dish and various of the treated discs are positioned in spaced apart relation on the surface thereof and maintained under conditions to encourage continued growth. If the anti-biotic or chemical of a particular disc is effective to destroy or inhibit the growth of the bacteria or other organism, the area in the immediate vicinity of the disc will be free of such growth. Thus an effective drug can be selected for treatment of the particular disease. Similarly, by the concentration of the drug impregnated into the disc, the laboratory can determine if the organism is very sensitive, moderately sensitive or resistive to the drug by the presence or absence of the zone of inhibition.

Ordinarily it is desirable to make use of a plurality of discs deposited in a predetermined pattern, in spaced apart relation on the culture. For this purpose, use is made of a disc dispenser of the type described in the copending application Serial No. 728,415, filed April 14, 1958, wherein use is made of a plurality of vials mounted in a suitable stand with the open ends extending downwardly into communication with separate openings in registry with slides by which the lowermost discs in each of the stacks is displaced to aligned openings in the bottom side of the dispenser for delivery of the discs to the underlying culture.

It is desirable for displacement of a disc from each of the vials for simultaneous delivery of the disc members in their separated relation. In the event that the disc members are in other than a fiatwise position in the vials, then the lowermost disc will not be in a proper position to be displaced by the feed slide such that the corresponding disc member will not be delivered to the position of test. Under such circumstances, the deficiency or deficiencies must be made up by manual delivery with the chance of error in placement or in proper selection of the missing disc or disc members.

There are a number of reasons for improper alignment of the disc members in the vial. One such reason may stem from the lack of sufiicient weight for displacing the stack through the vial so that the lowermost disc member will be in proper position to be displaced from the vial in response to movement of the feed slide.

Another reason for such possible improper alignment may stem from the various movements of the vial in use. For example, when the vial is partially filled with disc members, movement of the vial from inverted to upright position or vice versa will enable the disc members to shift from one end to the other in the vial. During such movement, the disc members need not move as a group.

A 3,032,179 Patented May 1, 1962 In fact, some of the disc members will fall separately from others or in such small groups that it will become possible for the disc members to turn to an angular position within the vial and to settle in such angular position whereby such angular disc members would be incapable of assuming a proper position for dispensing. The disc members are subjected to such movements one or more times in their use, as when the vial is inverted after insertion into position of use in the disc dispenser or when removed and re-inserted as in the substitution of one vial having one disc member for a vial having another type of disc member.

It is an object of this invention to produce a vial filled with a stack of disc members wherein the foregoing difficulties can be eliminated.

More specifically, it is an object of this invention to produce a vial embodying a stack of such treated disc members and including means for displacement of the disc members, as a group, to their lowermost positions in the vial properly to position the lowermost disc member for dispensing and which also embodies means limit ing the freedom of movement of the disc members in the vial thereby to prevent the free fall of the disc members which might otherwise permit improper alignment in the stack.

These and other objects and advantages of this invention will hereinafter appear and for purposes of illustration, but not of limitation, an embodiment of the invention is shown in the accompanying drawing in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective elevational view of a completed package embodying the features of this invention;

FIG. 2 is a perspective elevational view of the package of FIG. 1 showing the arrangement of the parts when in the inverted position;

FIG. 3 is a sectional elevational view through the vial of FIGS. 1 and 2 showing the arrangement of parts when in position of use;

FIG. 4 is a sectional elevational view of the vial shown in FIG. 3 with the vial inverted to an upright position;

FIG. 5 is a sectional elevational view similar to that of FIG. 4 illustrating the misalignment of elements which is possible in a structure which does not embody the practice of this invention;

FIG. 6 is a perspective elevational view of a holder member of the type illustrated in FIGS. 1-4; and

FIG. 7 is a sectional view taken along the line 7-7 of FIG. 1.

In accordance with the practice of this invention, the treated discs 10 formed of a lightweight, pliable cellulosic material or other absorbent paper, are stacked one upon the other flatwise to form a column within a glass vial 12 fitted with a stopper 14 to conceal the open end of the vial when not in use. The disc members 10 are shaped to correspond to the shape of the vial and they are dimen sioned to be slightly less than the wall to wall dimension of the vial. Thus the disc members are capable of displacement endwise in the vial alone or incombination in the stack. In the illustrated embodiment, the disc members are circular in cross sections to be received in sliding relation within the bore 16 of a cylindricalvial 12.

To effect displacement of the stack of disc members toward the open end of the vial, when in the lowered position shown in FIG. 3, there is provided a weight 2%} in the end portion of the vial between the stack of disc members and the base 22 of the vial. The weight 20 is dimensioned to have a cross section less than the wall to wall dimension of the vial and to correspond to the shape thereof to enable displacement actually in the vial, in the manner of a piston. Thus, when the vial is in upright position, as illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 4, the weight 29 will be displaced automatically by gravitational force to a position of rest in the base of the vial. On the other hand, when the vial is inverted into position of use with the open end extending downwardly, as in FIGS. 2 and 3, the weight shifts by gravitational force to come to rest on the upper end portion of the stack of disc members where it can operate constantly to urge the stack toward the lowermost position. Movements of the vial, while in the inverted position, will enable the weight 20 additionally to operate as a ram to cause displacement of the stack to the lowermost position and constantly to press the stack toward such position. Thus, the weight functions to maintain the stack in its lowermost position in the vial and to hold the disc members in their flattened position in the stack with the lowermost disc member in position to be engaged by the feed slide for displacement.

To hold the stack of disc members against free and uncontrolled movement as an incident to the movement of the vial between inverted and upright position, thereby to avoid misalignment of the disc members as illustrated in FIG. 5, there is interposed between the weight Ztl and the stack of disc members a holding member 24 which resiliently engages the side walls of the vial with a force sufiicient to resist displacement to response to the weight of the stack of disc members but with a force insumcient to resist displacement lengthwise through the vial in response to impacts or force derived from the weight 2 3. Thus the resilient holding member 24 serves as a movable bottom wall for support of the stack of disc members to eliminate the formation of a free space through which the disc members may fall when the vial is returned from inverted to upright position. As a result, once the stack of disc members has been displaced by the gravitational force, assisted by the weight, to their lowermost position, the resilient holding member 24 will also be displaced into contact with the top side of the inverted stack to function as the bottom wall upon which the stack will rest when subsequently shifted to upright position. As disc members are displaced from the stack, the resilient holding member will be displaced by a similar amount constantly to engage the top side of the inverted stack and thereby to eliminate free falling space.

For this purpose, the resilient holding member 24 may be formed of a strip of spring metal bent to U shape with the base 26, extending crosswide in the vial, being dimensioned to be less than the corresponding cross section of the bore through the vialand with the side arms 28 extending outwardly angularly therefrom with the span between the outermost portions thereof being greater than the corresponding wall to wall dimension of the vial so that such outwardly extending portions will have to be flexed inwardly in the direction towards each other upon insertion into the vial resiliently to bear against the walls of the vial. It is preferred to form the arms with end portions bent to a curvilinear shape to correspond more with the curvature of the walls of the vial for more substantial engagement therewith but such curvature is not essential for operation.

Instead of forming the holding member 24 of trapezoidal shape, the spring holder may be of other shapes such as V-shape, Z-shape, rectangular shape, curvilinear shape and the like. as long as portions thereof resiliently engage opposite walls of the vial slidably to position the spring holding member in position when inserted into the vial with a force suflicient to resist easy displacement by the stack of disc members in the vial.

By the practice of this invention it is possible constantly to maintain the disc members in proper position for dis pensing without excessive waste in the space available in the vials for the packaging of disc members for distribution and use. It will be understood that changes may be made in the details of the construction of the various elements including the spring holder and the weight, as

well as the shape and the materials of which the various elements are formed, without departing from the spirit of the invention, especially as defined in the following claims.

We claim:

1. A package having a plurality of thin disc members of light weight and adapted to be used with a dispenser for the displacement of single discs from the package comprising a vial having a bore extending uniformly continuously therethrough from an open end at the top to a closed end at the bottom, a plurality of thin disc members of light weight slidably received within the bore of said vial in stacked relation one on the other in the vial to form a column dimensioned to be less than the length of the bore, a spring holder interfitted within said bore contacting the bottom end of said column remote from said open end and resiliently engaging the adjacent walls of the vial with a force sufiicient to resist displacement by the weight of the stack of disc members, a weight slidablyreceived in the vial between said spring member and the bottom of the vial, the resilient engagement by said spring holder being insufficient to resist displacement by the slidable weight wherr turned bottom side up whereby the resilient holder operates to form the bottom support for the stack of disc members in the vial to seal the elements therein.

2. A package as claimed in claim 1 in which the vial is of cylindrical shape and in which the weight constitutes a cylindrical member having a diameter less than the diameter of the bore extending through the vial.

3. A package as claimed in claim 1 in which the spring holder comprises a strip of spring metal having opposite side portions extending outwardly for a distance greater than the diameter of the bore whereby the said sides are resiliently displaced in the direction towards each other when in the vial thereby resiliently to engage the opposite side walls of the vial.

4. A package as claimed in claim 1 in which the spring holder comprises a strip of spring metal shaped to have a planar body portion and free arms extending angularly outwardly therefrom to a distance greater than the bore through the vial whereby said arms are flexed in the direction towards each other resiliently to engage the side walls of the vial when inserted.

5. A package as claimed in claim 4 in which the end portions of the arms of the spring holder are formed to curvilinear shape substantially to correspond with the curvature of the vial for more substantial engagement therewith.

6. A package as claimed in claim 4 in which the body portion of the spring holder extends crosswise of the vial to provide a supporting surface for the disc members.

7. A package as claimed in claim 4 in which the spring holder is of V-shape.

8. A package as claimed in claim 4 in which the spring holder is of U-shape.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,671,285 Hanna May 29, 1928 2,172,457 Schwartz Sept. 12, 1939 2,443,861 Johnston June 22, 1948 

